Send a fax by email

You don't need a fax machine to send a fax. Email a PDF to your company's fax address, put the fax number in the subject line, and CallSprout sends the document as a fax.

This feature needs the Fax add-on on your account. See plans and pricing

Before you start

• Get the address. Ask your admin for your company's fax email address. It's a mailbox in your company's own email system, kept only for faxing.
• Check you're allowed to use it. Your admin can limit faxing by email to certain senders or to your company's email domain. If they have, send from an address on that list.
• Make it a PDF. Only PDF attachments go out as faxes. Save or export your document as a PDF first.

Send the fax

1. 1
   Step 1:

   Start a new email

   Write it from the email address your admin approved.
2. 2
   Step 2:

   Address it

   Put your company's fax email address in the To field.
3. 3
   Step 3:

   Enter the fax number as the subject

   Type the number you're faxing in the subject line and nothing else. Write it the way you'd dial it from your desk phone. If you're not sure how outside numbers should be written, ask your admin.
4. 4
   Step 4:

   Attach the PDF

   You can attach up to a few PDF files in one email.
5. 5
   Step 5:

   Send it

   Send the email as usual.

What happens next

The fax service checks its mailbox for new emails, so the fax starts shortly after, not the moment you hit send. If a try doesn't go through, it tries again. After a few tries without success, it marks the fax as failed.

If your admin turned on fax notices, you may get an email telling you how it went. Faxes you send by email also show in Fax History in Communicator, if you use it. Your admin can also see each fax sent this way in the admin portal, with its status and how many pages went through.

Keep your own copy of anything you fax. CallSprout keeps fax files for a limited time. See how long faxes are kept.

Troubleshooting

• Nothing went out. Check that the attachment is a PDF, the subject holds only the fax number, and you sent from an approved address. An email with no PDF isn't faxed, and the fax service deletes it.
• It keeps failing. Check the number with the person you're faxing, then ask your admin to look up the fax in the admin portal. If it still fails, contact support.

Set up faxing by email (admins)

Some labels in your portal or apps may look slightly different from this guide.

Faxing by email uses a mailbox in your company's own email system, and you choose who may send from it.

1. 1
   Step 1:

   Create the mailbox

   In your email system, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, create a mailbox used only for fax requests, such as fax@example.com.
2. 2
   Step 2:

   Open the settings

   In the admin portal, go to Fax, then E-mail to Fax.
3. 3
   Step 3:

   Connect the mailbox

   For Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, choose the OAuth sign in and pick the mailbox's credential. If none is listed, ask CallSprout support. For other email systems, enter the mailbox's IMAP server, port, encryption, username and password.
4. 4
   Step 4:

   Pick the folder

   In Mailbox, keep INBOX, or enter the folder the service should watch.
5. 5
   Step 5:

   Choose who may send

   In E-mails Whitelist, enter each approved sender's full address, or a whole domain with an @ in front, such as @example.com. Avoid Allow all, which lets anyone who knows the address send faxes from your account.
6. 6
   Step 6:

   Save and test

   Save, select Test to check the connection, and make sure Enabled is on.

Faxing by email is one way to use the Fax add-on. You can also send faxes from Communicator, or keep a fax machine on an analog fax line.